UH Manoa's Institute for Astronomy and PBS Hawaii present "What's Up in the Universe?"

HONOLULU — The next Institute for Astronomy public event will feature "What's Up in the Universe?" on Wednesday, June 20, at 7:30 p.m. in the Institute for Astronomy (IfA) Auditorium at its Mānoa headquarters on Woodlawn Drive. This film looks at the human need to explore and ponders whether there is life elsewhere in the universe.

The film features navigator Nainoa Thompson of the Polynesian Voyaging Society, planetary scientist and artist Dr. William Hartmann, who paints extraterrestrial landscapes, and planetary scientist and ballerina Robin Canup, who further explores the relation between art and science. Also appearing at length are extrasolar planet hunter Geoffrey Marcy, IfA planetary astronomer Tobias Owen, and IfA solar astronomer Jeffrey Kuhn.

IfA astronomer and executive producer Brent Tully and producer/director Susan Friedman will be present to discuss the film, which will be broadcast on PBS Hawaiʻi on July 14.

Tully is best known as the co-originator of the Tully-Fisher relation, which led to the current preferred estimate of the size and age of the universe. He was also the executive producer of the PBS NOVA show "The Runaway Universe."

Friedman is an award-winning documentary filmmaker with 20 years of experience in the field of education. She is currently on the faculty at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Many of her films have been aired on PBS.

Major funding for this project came from the National Science Foundation.

ABOUT THE INSTITUTE FOR ASTRONOMYThe Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaiʻi conducts research into galaxies, cosmology, stars, planets, and the sun. Its faculty and staff are also involved in astronomy education, deep space missions, and in the development and management of the observatories on Haleakalā and Mauna Kea. For more information, visit www.ifa.hawaii.edu.

ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAIʻIEstablished in 1907 and fully accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, the University of Hawaiʻi is the state's sole public system of higher education. The UH System provides an array of undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees and community programs on 10 campuses and through educational, training, and research centers across the state. UH enrolls more than 50,000 students from Hawaiʻi, the U.S. mainland, and around the world. For more information, visit www.hawaii.edu.